Owner of a fish market in Rochester, NY, he "devoted his attention to the means of protecting the spawn of salmon from the males, who ate it as soon as it was cast."
And so, the beginning of fish farms.
He introduced farm-hatched shad in California, Connecticut, the Hudson, Potomac and the Susquehanna. His farms were successful for over 20 varieties of fish. He received several medals from Paris and Berlin. He felt his most important achievement was reducing "cost" for a necessary article of man.
History of Rochester and Monroe County,William F. Peck, 1908